A blog dedicated to rediscovering America's kit houses one home at a time.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Sears Hammond in North Muskegon, Michigan

Catalog image of Sears Hammond (1932)Image courtesy of Archive.org

When Wendy and I visited North Muskegon, Michigan to see some Sears homes, we found more homes than we had on our list to visit. One of the surprises for us was a Sears Hammond. Unlike the Alhambra we spotted, I wasn't 100% sure that I had spotted a Hammond when we first drove past the house. We had to circle back around so I could look for a couple of details that made me confident that it was a Sears house. This is a very nice example of the Hammond so let's take a look at the clues that tipped us off that it is likely a Sears house.

The Sears Hammond was one of a number of new house designs that were introduced in the 1932 Modern Homes catalog. The likely Sears Hammond that we found in North Muskegon matches up nicely with the catalog image.

413 Linderman - North Muskegon - Sears Hammond

Unlike some of the other designs that were phased out after a year or two, the Hammond continued to appear in the Modern Homes catalogs through the final catalog in 1940. The fact that Sears continued to feature the Hammond in the catalog through 1940 makes it likely that more than a few of these houses were built. As of today, there are over a dozen examples in the national database of Sears homes but there's likely more examples out there to find. Also, while 1940 was the last year that Sears produced their Modern Homes catalog, Sears continued to sell homes through 1942 through Modern Homes salesmen and sales offices. If you find a house that looks like a Hammond that was built in 1941 or 1942, it may be from Sears!

Catalog image of Sears Hammond (1940)Image courtesy of Archive.org

As you can see from the catalog images, the Sears Hammond remained largely unchanged from its introduction in 1932 until the final Modern Homes catalog in 1940. There are a couple of minor changes to the interior floor plan but the outside of the house didn't change in design over the years. From these images, here's some elements to look for to help you spot the Sears Hammond.

1. Extra Tall Living Room Windows: As you can see from the image below, if you spot a house that you think may be the Sears Hammond, look for these extra tall windows in the living room. They are quite distinctive with a 1/3 to 2/3 division between the upper and lower range of the windows.

Image courtesy of Archive.org

Here's the same windows on the house in North Muskegon. Check out that decorative border around the windows, that's in the catalog image too!

413 Linderman - North Muskegon - Sears Hammond

2. Flared brickwork on the front of house: Another distinctive element of the Sears Hammond is the flared brickwork on either side of the front of the house. As you can see from the catalog images and the photos of the house, the Hammond was intended to be finished with face brick on the first floor of the house. Most Sears houses had the option of being finished with a variety of different materials from wood siding to stucco to brick veneer (face brick). But the Hammond was one of a small number of models that was specifically designed to be finished with a combination of wood siding and brick. I've highlighted the flared brickwork in the catalog image below.

Image courtesy of Archive.org

You can clearly see that decorative element in the photo of the house.

413 Linderman - North Muskegon - Sears Hammond

In this view, you can also see some other elements on the house in North Muskegon that match the catalog image including the brickwork border around the door and the decorative brickwork that separates the siding on the front of the gable from the brickwork below it.

3. Decorative Iron Railings on the Front Porch: Thanks to a blog post about the Hammond model by fellow kit house researcher Lara Solonickne, I realized that one of the elements to look for is decorative iron railings on the front porch. The North Muskegon house does have a set of decorative iron railings on the front porch.

Image courtesy of Archive.org

413 Linderman - North Muskegon - Sears Hammond

The house in North Muskegon also matches up well with the catalog image in several other ways. These include:

The location of the chimney

The location of the doors and windows on the front, sides and rear of the house including the small window on the entry vestibule around the corner from the front door.

The presence of the vent on the front gable (although this house has a circular cover as opposed to the rectangle cover seen in the catalog)

The roofline of the front gable is slightly lower than the main roofline of the house (not visible in these photos but present on this house)

413 Linderman - North Muskegon - Sears Hammond

When we don't have information to authenticate a house, it's the totality of elements that help us at least identify the house in question as a kit house. While we haven't been able to authenticate this house yet as being from Sears Roebuck, we can at least identify it as likely being a Sears Hammond. I've used these same elements to identify a likely Sears Hammond in Ann Arbor, Michigan even though that house had been expanded beyond its original footprint. With these hints, hopefully, you too can spot the Hammond!

If you know more about this house or any other kit houses from the west side of Michigan (or anywhere else), share those with us in the comments!

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Andrew and Wendy Mutch are the owners of a 1926 Sears Hamilton located in Novi, Michigan. Visit our web site to learn more about the research we do and how to contact us.

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As information professionals, Wendy and I believe in the value of collaboration and the importance of sharing information and research. To that end, we encourage you to use the information we've shared on this site to help you in your own research and to discover catalog and kit houses. If you find something worth sharing with us, please do so!

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